Installing Vehicle Mods Manually

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Opius
9

Opius
9

It seems that many mod managers/installers have been screwing up installs of vehicles. So I'm here with a walkthrough on how to manually install mods.

So, you've downloaded, unzipped/rared/whatevered a mod. In MOST cases, you'll have a DFF, a TXD, and a readme file. It's strongly recommended you read the readme, as they usually contain important information about the vehicle, like known bugs, extra steps for installing, etc.

First, the number one problem people have when installing mods is that the files are read-only, meaning they can't be modified. Right click on your Vice folder, click on Properties, UNcheck "read-only" in the box that comes up, then click OK. If another box comes up, make sure to select "Apply to all subfolders and files", then click OK.

Now, browse to wherever you installed GTA3/Vice City. There will be a folder called 'Models'. Open it. There should be a file named GTA3.IMG. This will be the same for both games. Open it with the IMG TOOL (Click for download location).

Take note of the filenames of the DFF and TXD files that the mod contains. For this example, lets say they are called 'banshee.dff', and 'banshee.txd'. This means they would replace the Banshee. So, in the IMG Tool, go to 'Edit', 'Search'. Type in the name of the vehicle it would replace, eg "banshee".

You'll get two results. Rename (Commands - Rename) them both to "banshee-old". Then Add (Commands - Add) the DFF and TXDs that you downloaded. Once they are inserted, rebuild the archive (Commands - Rebuild Archive).

IF your game has a file called TXD.IMG, delete it, and its sister file "TXD.DIR". Don't worry, the game will rebuild it on the next start up.

Now, the mod will work at this point, however, the wheels probably aren't going to look very good, and the handling will stay unchanged.

The first one is the handling information, the second is the main definition for the vehicle. So, highlight and copy the first one, browse to 'Data' and open up 'handling.cfg' with Notepad (or any other PLAIN-TEXT editor, MSWord not recommended). Search (CTRL-F) for 'banshee". You'll find a line with the word 'banshee' at the start, and a whole heap of numbers after it. Highlight the entire line, and paste the line from the readme over it, making sure no other lines are disturbed. Save that file.

Now open up default.ide. Do the same thing. If the readme only mentions wheel size, find the line for your vehicle, and look at the very last number. Change it to whatever the readme says. Save this file too.

Now, start Vice, and your installed vehicle should work perfectly.

If you still have any problems, THEN start a new topic.

Also, I'd like to thank Victim of a Down for providing me with the files I needed, as I was away from my computer when I wrote this.

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ketis
0

ketis
0

i did every thing when i was installing the demon motorcycle for the freeway but when i drove it would scrape when i did a wheelie and when i went by a tiny curve it would catch i have no idea what the problem is

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volvo_junkie
0

volvo_junkie
0

I keep trying to replace a in the game that I have downloaded (i.e. one of them is replacing a BlistaCompact with a Dodge Daytona) and everytime I hit replace and find the file path to where I saved the Daytona I get an error message that says the file is too big. all of the files I have downloaded are .rar files and this is driving me insane

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Pagnell
0

Pagnell
0

First, the number one problem people have when installing mods is that the files are read-only, meaning they can't be modified. Right click on your Vice folder, click on Properties, UNcheck "read-only" in the box that comes up, then click OK. If another box comes up, make sure to select "Apply to all subfolders and files", then click OK.

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volvo_junkie
0

volvo_junkie
0

K, so now I got the cars in, but liek I'll load up the game, and the cars have just disapeared

like I replaced one car with an INFERNUS and now when I leave my mansion there is no INFERNUS parked outside my garage, and I replaced another car with an Admiral and I had an Admiral in my garage and now my garage won't open

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Lijer
0

Lijer
0

I've also problems installing new cars. I did that editingtrick several times but it still doesn't work for me.

For example, when I install the "corgette_stock" I first change the gta3.img with "IMG Tool v1.3" and replace the two cheetah files (I also tried to remove and rename the files and then add the two new cheetah files but that didnt work either). Then I edit the other files (default.ide/carcols.dat/ handling.cfg).

But then, when I start up GTA:VC I only see the normal Cheetah instead of the one I just added (the "corgette_stock" thing) so what I supose is that the gta3.img isn't being updated.

I did all the tricks such as setting the data-maps to NON-readonly and install the wheelmod etc. but it still doesn't work!

!!!!! - I'm playing this game on Xbox so maybe is this the bottleneck, I just don't know. - !!!!!

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johnnyjj
0

johnnyjj
0

i have tried and understand everything you are saying yet i seem to find that i get stubg by a message saying " Dir file error! It may be in use...exiting" . In my ig tool it says gta3 as well. is this correct?

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BenMillard
34

BenMillard
34

You cannot edit the files whilst the game is loaded. I wrote a tutorial about GTA3 & GTAVC Setup: Multiple Installs tutorial which shows how best to disable the read-only attribute. Disable if for every file in the game folder, even files you do not think you are using. This is because the IMG files are indexed using a DIR file, so unless both of these are not read-only then the modification will fail. This is why Opius says it is the biggest problem for everyone that tries to install a mod.

I have also written my own GTA3 & GTAVC Setup: Installing Cars tutorial which is split up a lot more and is structed as step-by-step lists of what you need to do. Some people might find it easier to follow than the normal prose of other tutorials.

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J.Cash fan
0

J.Cash fan
0

So, you've downloaded, unzipped/rared/whatevered a mod. In MOST cases, you'll have a DFF, a TXD, and a readme file. It's strongly recommended you read the readme, as they usually contain important information about the vehicle, like known bugs, extra steps for installing, etc.

I don't have a DFF or TXD, all I have is a RAR thing, what can I do with that???

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Justin
12

Justin
12

So, you've downloaded, unzipped/rared/whatevered a mod. In MOST cases, you'll have a DFF, a TXD, and a readme file. It's strongly recommended you read the readme, as they usually contain important information about the vehicle, like known bugs, extra steps for installing, etc.

I don't have a DFF or TXD, all I have is a RAR thing, what can I do with that???

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fireguy109
529

fireguy109
529

Yeah, I know this is a bump, but these whining noobs are is getting annoying. 5 bucks says that people find this topic all the time and have questions. Installing cars is easy with practice. Just try a few times. A few tips-

1. Make sure (this mostly applies to gta3, but vice city is very similar) that you put the .txd in the txd.img file or whatever vc has, and the dff in the gta3.img! Otherwise, you get white interiors and textures, etc.

2. Don't try to replace dffs ot txds using IMGtool's replace feature, most mods are too big. Extract the original as a backup, delete it fro the list, and add the modded file, renaming it to whatever you were trying to replace. Rebuild the archive, etc.

3. If you put a semi in place of a motorcycle, you get weird results. To fix, you need colleditor by steve-m. Replace the bike's .col with either the one from the mod or the one the mod intended to replace- this helps if you get 2 mods to replace the same car but want both in the game. Remember to edit the handling and the wheel size.

4. If you want to edit some design on or off the car, open the txd with TXDworkshop and export that part as a BMP. Use paint to edit it, import it to replace the original, save the txd and put it in txd.img!

Good luck modding!

PS, IMGtool is better . Pro tip- to check out mods and new textures w/o running the game, get GGMM and use that. Nice job on the tutorial, Opius. Try not to double post, Mercedes CLS.